December 23 2020 Six Great Perennials for Design John Jay Francis Masson Ann Batten...

Today we celebrate a gardener who was also a Founding Father and a Governor of New York. Well also learn about a botanist who brought back the Bird of Paradise Strelitzia reginae strel-IT-zee-ah REJ-in-ee as well as a plant that is now the oldest living potted plant at Kew. We hear a charming poem that takes us through the seasons by an English poet who was friends with many poets including Mary Wollstonecraft. We Grow That Garden Library with a good ol garden book that teaches how to grow your own food. And then well wrap things up with another delightful story about the Mistletoe - this one is a heart-warmer. Subscribe Apple Google Spotify Stitcher iHeart To listen to the show while youre at home just ask Alexa or Google to Play the latest episode of The Daily Gardener Podcast. And she will. Its just that easy. The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter featuring: A personal update from me Garden-related items for your calendar The Grow That Garden Library featured books for the week Gardener gift ideas Garden-inspired recipes Exclusive updates regarding the show Plus each week one lucky subscriber wins a book from the Grow That Garden Library bookshelf. Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics stories birthday wishes and so forth to JennifertheDailyGardener.org Curated Garden News 6 Great Plants for a New Perennial Design Fine Gardening Greg Loades Facebook Group I share all of my curated news articles and original blog posts with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So theres no need to take notes or search for links. The next time youre on Facebook search for Daily Gardener Community where youd search for a friend... and request to join. Id love to meet you in the group. Important Events December 23 1745 Today is the birthday of the American Founding Father and gardener John Jay. When he wasnt serving as the second Governor of New York and the United States first Chief Justice John Jay loved to garden. Johns ancestral home was in Rye New York. And today the Jay Heritage Center oversees the Jay Estate and the incredible landscape which includes stone ha-ha walls from 1822 one-and-a-half acres of historic sunken gardens from the 1700s a meadow an apple orchard and elm tree allée. And heres a little fun fact about John Jay: His great-granddaughter Mary Rutherfurd Jay grew up on the ancestral Jay estate. She became one of Americas earliest landscape architects and an advocate of horticultural education and womens careers. In 1801 John and his wife Sarah retired to their farmhouse in Bedford Westchester County. Yet their dream of settled farm life was cut short when Sarah died at age 45. John never remarried and he lived out his remaining 30 years on this earth as a gentleman farmer. Today the John Jay Homestead features four gardens that reflect the John Jay family: The Formal Gardens feature a fountain and a sundial. The Terrace Garden features deer resistant plants and an apple orchard in a nod to John Jays original orchard. And the old cutting garden is now an Herb Garden that was re-designed by Page Dickey who laid out a 17th-century English knot garden. Theres also a Teaching Garden to inspire kids to get involved in horticulture. Personally I find the most touching garden of all is the blue and white North Courtyard Garden which was inspired by a book of pressed flowers from Johns daughter Maria Jay. This charming blue and white garden features violets poppies and irises which bloom from spring to fall. And I should mention that all of the gardens at the John Jay homestead are tended by local garden clubs. December 23 1805 Today is the anniversary of the death of the Scottish gardener botanical illustrator and the very first plant hunter for Kew Francis Masson. After proving himself capable at Kew Joseph Banks sent Francis on an expedition to southern Africa where he met up with the Swedish botanist Carl Peter Thunberg. Together Francis and Carl ventured into the veldt and the Blue Mountains. Surviving the extreme heat lack of water and dangerous wild animals Francis made it back to England in 1775. With his gardeners eye for ornamentals Francis brought back many plants and seeds to England. In a letter to Linnaeus Francis reported he had added upwards of 400 new species to his Majesties collection of living plants. Among Francis specimens were gladioli irises kniphofias lobelias and pelargoniums as well as the stunning bird of paradise flower which was named to honor the wife of George III Queen Charlotte: a patroness of the arts an amateur botanist in her own right and a champion of Kew Gardens. And the name of the plant recognized the fact that the Queen was born in Germany in an area called Mecklenberg-Strelitz. And so the botanical name for the Bird...,

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